Activision Blizzard Fires More Than 20 Employees, 20 More Facing Disciplinary Action

Activision Blizzard has fired more than 20 employees and another 20 are facing disciplinary action amid lawsuits.

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More than 20 employees have been fired from Activision Blizzard and another 20 are facing disciplinary action amid the lawsuits brought against the company earlier this year.

While sadly reports of devs and others working at video game studios being treated poorly happen far too often, the lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard earlier this year still shocked many in the community. Reports and allegations from current and ex-employees painted a picture of staff, and some of the higher-ups, engaging in what was described in the suit filed by the state of California as a “frat boy culture”.

Activision Blizzard’s reaction to the lawsuit, which includes accusations of gender discrimination and sexual assault, only made matters worse. The studio’s immediate response was to label the investigation that led to the lawsuit as “irresponsible”. Now, months after all of this came to light via the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard has parted ways with more than 20 of its employees.

News that 20 employees had been let go was first broken to Activision employees via a letter penned by chief compliance officer, Frances Townsend. The Financial Times was the first to break the news about the internal letter and its contents. It has since been published online via Activision Blizzard’s website.

“In connection with various resolved reports, more than 20 individuals have exited Activision Blizzard and more than 20 individuals faced other types of disciplinary action,” the letter reads. Townsend has also revealed the group of departing employees includes developers, a few supervisors, but none of Activision Blizzard’s board members. The CCO also told FT more changes are coming, and that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has given her a blank cheque to be used towards reform in the company.

Activision faced even more backlash last month when it settled an additional lawsuit filed by the EEOC by setting up an $18 million fund. While that might seem like a lot on the surface, it only equates to a little less than 2% of what the studio makes in a single quarter. The Communication of Workers of America union is now attempting to block that settlement, accusing Activision of throwing money at a problem in an attempt to make it disappear.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/activision-blizzard-fires-20-employees/